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2012 Chevy Volt Battery:

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370K views 663 replies 95 participants last post by  remy_martian  
#1 ·
Paid $2000 + $150 shipping from a junkyard.
It is a work of art. I'll be sad to tear it apart for the cells, but that's life.
I'm getting 373 vdc for the battery, and 3.88 vdc per cell.

IF there are 288 cells. Already things aren't making sense. I count 72 modules about 1" thick.



Video: http://youtu.be/X8J-zfBnSEQ
 

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#21 ·
Are they no longer running >6 year old manganese spinel cathodes? I thought it used cells kinda on the low side of energy density and cycle life compared with NCA or NCM.

I did think LG's spiral wrapped ceramic separator was pretty cool, but I don't know if I could call the cells advanced chemistry anymore.

Regardless though, amazingly good deal for DIY EV building!!! Woot!! I've been tempted to buy one myself. Great job on pulling the trigger and getting one! Huge value/quality advantage over most all other DIY EV battery options. I just wish it wasn't in such a wonky T-shaped layout. Are you stuffing the cells into the Insight in the photo?
 
#24 · (Edited)
Here's why I think the GM battery is the current winner:

Volt 16.5 kWh = 149HP is 9HP per kWh
Cadillac 16.5 kWh = 207HP is 12.5 HP/kWh
Tesla S 60 kWh = 302HP is 5HP/kWh
Tesla S Performance 85 kWh = 416HP is 5HP/kWh
Leaf 24 kWh = 107HP is 4.5HP/kWh

The GM battery is set to deliver about twice the output per battery kWh as the other players.

To put it in perspective, if the Tesla S Performance ran the GM battery the same size, it would have the same range, but have a peak HP of 1040. This is Bugatti Veyron territory.
 
#27 ·
This is primarily due to the fact you are comparing EV batteries to HEV or PHEV batteries. The HEV (and PHEV) batteries are sized for smaller energy but similar power so are designed to use higher C-rate cells and often have more robust thermal management systems than the EV batteries.

EnerDel, which I am familiar with, produces two cells for automotive; a power cell and an energy cell. Here is a handy place to see the differences. http://evolveelectrics.com/Enerdel.html
 
#29 · (Edited)
The Enerdel is rated at 5C discharge? That is about where Tesla is at?

DOH!! 15C for 10s. I know the GM battery will do 10C for over 16 seconds. Will it do 15C? Dunno.

But for hobbyist, the Enerdel is priced pretty steep. To get 16kWh, it costs $14,000. I can buy 2 complete wrecked Volts for less than that. Or if I can find that many, 7 batteries.

NOTE: The Volt can go 50mi on a charge, well 49mi. I proved it last month, as have many others. So I'm not sure it's not an EV. It has used <3 gallons of gas in 1500 miles so far. It's never been refueled since December.
 
#30 ·
McRat said:
The Enerdel is rated at 5C discharge? That is about where Tesla is at?
Click to expand...
The power cell is the CP160 and rated at 5C continuous and 15C burst. These are manufacturer's rating which are typically very conservative. I imagine the actual cell capability is similar to the one used in the Volt. I know a fellow who used to work at Compact Power (now LG Chem) on the Volt battery development and have sat thru technical presentations by the company at SAE events. It is a very good product. But there are a number of other products on par with them.

Here is an interesting take on power capability of Lithium cells. Unfortunately, the LG Chem cell was unavailable for him to test at the time. http://elithion.com/wp_short_discharge_time.php
 
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#33 ·
When I bought the volt pack 16kWh I had the charger and controller in my hands, at least I think it was. I also have seen the electric motor /gearbox. I can buy these parts for cheap. It is a salvage parts store. But to me these parts were too complicated. You probably need everything to get it working. And there were so many extra wires I could not address, also the electric motor was integrated in some kind of gearbox.
 
#35 ·
Hey McRat.... I was so amazed of your find.... I decided to take one too!
It was awesome! I saw your thread yesterday, I've decide to try to find something on local junkyard and I called, I paid, I took possession :D:D:D

Now, Lipo Louis, please share all the details and pics you have of your battery ;)
 

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#36 ·
To state the obvious, get yourself some 1000 volt gloves before working on it.

Remove all the 10mm head screws, including the ones on the front of the tunnel where the foam is.

The front is tight, so have two people lift the cover off. The cover is fiberglass.

There is positive and negative markers on each of the "blocks". Check voltages of each block.
 
#39 ·
McRat said:
Remove all the 10mm head screws... Check voltages of each block.
Click to expand...
Well, since I wasn't interested to buy a 435 lbs piece of crap, I've took the time to dismantle the cover at the junkyard. The result was surprising because average voltage of single cell was 3,5v (a little bit low), but the battery was stored a -10°C. So I will discover more details soon.

Tomorrow, lot of disassembly pics for all :D

Price: less than 2k$ + gas and lunch to a friend with a trailer...;)
 
#38 ·
What are the dimensions of the battery modules with armor? (I had them at one time) but I think in my case I would need a leaf battery just because dimensionally it would fit, whereas volt modules would require signfiicant modifications to either of my cars (and I would keep the armor and plug it into the radiator)

Cheers
 
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